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This classic apple pie recipe pairs a flaky, buttery crust with cinnamon-spiced apples and a rich, cider-like filling that’s never runny.
Over my 25 years of professional cooking, I’ve tested countless apple pie recipes and landed on a few simple techniques that make all the difference. This classic apple pie recipe has a flaky, buttery crust and tender, cinnamon-spiced apples in a rich, cider-like filling.
The secret is cooking the apples before assembling the pie, which concentrates their flavor, helps the filling set beautifully, and keeps the bottom crust crisp. I’ll walk you through the process step by step, from making and rolling the dough to assembling and baking the pie.
Serve this homemade apple pie on its own or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, a dollop of whipped cream, or a drizzle of caramel sauce. And if you’d like to get a head start, my apple pie filling can be made ahead of time.
“Apple is my husband’s favorite. He walked out the door this morning and said it was the best I’ve made!”
What You’ll Need To Make Apple Pie
- Pie crust: Made from all-purpose flour, sugar, salt, a touch of baking powder, cold butter, and ice water. The cold butter and water are key to creating a flaky, tender crust.
- Apples: Use firm baking apples that hold their shape when cooked. Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, Jonagold, Braeburn, and Golden Delicious are all good choices; a mix gives the filling more complex flavor.
- Dark brown sugar: Adds sweetness along with a rich, caramel-like flavor.Lemon juice: Brightens the filling and balances the sweetness of the apples.
- Cinnamon: Adds just enough warmth and spice without overpowering the apples.
- Flour & cornstarch: Work together to thicken the apple juices so the filling sets beautifully when sliced.
- Egg, cream, or milk: Brushed over the top crust to help it brown beautifully.
- Turbinado or granulated sugar: Adds a sweet, lightly crunchy finish to the crust.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
How To Make Apple Pie
Make and chill the pie dough: Pulse the dry ingredients in a food processor, then add the cold butter and pulse until crumbly. Add the ice water and pulse just until the dough is evenly moistened—it should still look crumbly rather than forming a ball. Divide the dough, shape into discs, and refrigerate until firm.
Prepare the apple pie filling: Combine the apples with the lemon juice, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, flour, and cornstarch and cook over medium heat, stirring often. The apples are ready when they’ve softened slightly and their juices have thickened. Spread the filling on a baking sheet so it cools quickly and completely.
Assemble: Roll the larger dough disc into a 13-inch circle and fit it into a 9-inch pie pan. Add the cooled apple filling, then roll the top crust slightly larger than the pie and drape it over the apples. Seal and crimp the edges, brush with egg, cream, or milk, sprinkle with sugar, and cut a few slits in the top for steam to escape.
Bake: Bake the pie on a preheated baking sheet in the lower third of the oven—the blast of heat underneath helps crisp the bottom crust. The pie is done when the crust is deeply golden and the filling is bubbling through the vents.
Cool and serve: Let the pie cool completely before slicing, at least 4 hours. This resting time is important: as the filling cools, it thickens and sets so you get neat slices rather than a runny filling. The pie can be baked a day ahead or frozen (baked or unbaked) for longer storage.
Apple Pie Video Tutorial
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Apple Pie
Ingredients
For the Crust
- 2¾ cups all-purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled-off
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- 18 tablespoons (2 sticks + 2 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, sliced into 1-inch pieces
- 7 tablespoons ice cold water
For the Filling
- 4½ pounds baking apples (about 8 large apples; see note), peeled, cored, and sliced ¼-inch thick
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, from 1 lemon
- 1 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
- Heaping ¼ teaspoon salt
- Heaping ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
For Baking
- A beaten egg, heavy cream, or milk, for brushing over crust
- 2 tablespoons granulated or turbinado sugar, for topping the pie
Instructions
- Prepare the Crust: Combine the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Pulse a few times to combine. Add the pieces of butter and pulse until the mixture is crumbly with lots of pea-size clumps of butter within.Add the water and pulse until the mixture is evenly moistened and very crumbly.Dump the dough crumbles onto a work surface and divide into two piles, with one pile about 15% bigger than the other. You can eyeball it, but if you have a kitchen scale, one pile should weigh 13 oz (368 g) and the other 11.5 oz (326 g). Shape into two balls of dough and pat each one into a 5-inch (13-cm) disc. Wrap the discs in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 45 minutes or up to 3 days to rest.
- Prepare the Filling: In a large heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven, mix the apples with lemon juice, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, flour, and cornstarch. Stir until thoroughly combined and both the flour and cornstarch are dissolved. Place the pot over medium heat and cook, stirring often, until the apples soften and the juices thicken, 11 to 13 minutes. Transfer the apples and their juices to a baking sheet, spreading them out evenly. Allow them to cool completely.
- Preheat the Oven: Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C) and set an oven rack in the lower third position. Place a baking sheet on this rack to preheat as well. (This acts like a pizza stone, providing a hot surface to help the bottom crust of the pie crisp up effectively.)
- Assemble the Pie: Remove the larger disc of dough from the refrigerator. Lightly dust a clean work surface with flour and place the dough on it; sprinkle a bit of flour over the dough as well. Gently knead the dough with your hands just until it becomes soft and malleable (avoid overworking it—you want it just supple enough to roll out). Roll the dough out into a 13-inch (33-cm) circle, adding more flour as needed to prevent sticking. Carefully lift the dough by draping it over your rolling pin and transfer it to a 9-inch by 1½-inch (23-cm by 3.75-cm) deep pie pan, preferably metal (as metal conducts heat more effectively, helping the bottom crust crisp up) but ceramic or glass will work too. Gently press the dough into the pan, making sure to ease it into place without stretching. Trim the edges of the dough to extend about ½ inch (1.25 cm) beyond the pie pan's lip.Transfer the cooled apples and their juices into the crust; refrigerate while you prepare the top crust.Remove the second disc of dough from the refrigerator and roll it out into an 11-inch (28-cm) circle, following the same process described above. Retrieve the filled pie from the refrigerator and carefully drape the rolled dough over the top. Crimp the edges with a fork or flute them with your fingers to seal the top and bottom crusts together. Work quickly and dust your fingers with flour as needed to prevent the dough from becoming too warm. Brush the top crust with beaten egg, cream, or milk, and evenly sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of granulated or turbinado sugar. Cut four 3-inch (7.5-cm) slits in the top crust to allow steam to escape.
- Bake and Cool: Place the pie on the preheated baking sheet and bake at 425°F (220°C) for 15 minutes. Then reduce the oven temperature to 375°F (190°C) and continue baking for an additional 45 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown. Let the pie cool completely on a wire rack before slicing, at least 4 hours. Resist the temptation to cut into the pie while it’s warm, or you may end up with apple soup!
Notes
- Be sure to use baking apples that hold their shape when cooked, such as Honeycrisp, Jonagold, Granny Smith, or Golden Delicious. And use a mix of different varietals for the best flavor.
- Make-Ahead/Freezer-Friendly Instructions: The pie can be baked up to 1 day ahead of time and stored, loosely covered with foil, at room temperature. It can also be frozen for up to 3 months before or after baking it. (If freezing it unbaked, hold off on brushing the top crust with the beaten egg and sprinkling it with sugar; you can do that right before baking.) If baked, let it cool completely and place it in the freezer uncovered. When fully frozen, wrap the pie securely in foil and freeze. If the pie is unbaked, wrap it securely in foil and freeze. When ready to serve, proceed with baking instructions above (the pie is likely to take 10 to 15 minutes longer to bake).
Nutrition Information
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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I consider myself a decent baker and bake often. I have baked several apple pies in my lifetime and I must say this is the best apple pie I have made. Although, it is much more time consuming than most other pies, it is worth every single step and extra time spent. I followed the recipe exactly and changed nothing!! The family loved it 🙂
Okay, the pie is in the oven. I used your recipe because I have made a lot of apple pies but the bottom is Always undercooked when the pie comes out of the oven. Blind baking seemed like the thing to do. The bottom crust shrunk (even with weights)to the point that the edge disappeared. It’s really important to make the bottom crust much bigger than usual. I should have paid closer attention to the directions there… When I put the top crust on, I had to push the edges toward the base and hope for the best. I have no idea how good the seal will be. How did you seal your crust? The pie plate will be hot coming right out of the oven after blind baking. Did you create a second edging with the top crust? So that the crust is basically doubled?
Hi Terry, Sorry you struggled a bit with the crust. When you put the bottom crust in, you should trim the edges to 1/2-inch beyond the lip of the pie pan then turn the edges under to create a rim on the crust. You then press the rim against the lip of the pan, forming it into an even edge. And I know it can be a bit challenging getting the top layer of dough to adhere to the bottom layer as the pan is hot. The most important thing to do there is work quickly so the dough doesn’t soften too much. Hope that helps!
Same issue as a few others here. The pie browned way too quickly, I was tenting it towards the last 20 min. of the bake and it was already pretty dark. When I took it out, the apples were still crisp inside, so not baked through. I put tinfoil on it and put it in for another 15 min. at 350. Then it leaked.
During the blind bake, once I took the beans off, the bottom ballooned and I had to poke it with a fork to make it go down. Just not a good time with this one.
Not sure what the issue is for those of us, who all had this problem. Different ovens maybe? I have a bottom coil oven with a baking steel on the bottom rack to evenly distribute the temperature and that usually makes my bakes very successful. I also rotated the pie during the bake (3-4 times).
I did place it on the center rack, as you mentioned in the other comments. Just a bit frustrating because it is a lot of work but hopefully it will still be edible! Waiting for it to cool now.
Update: The extra 15 min. at 350 cooked the apples properly. Still too much liquid on the inside, I suspect it needed to be reduced more before pouring back onto apples. No soggy bottom and overall too dark but edible! If you have suggestions, I am open to them!
Hi Natalie, Sorry you had a bit of a problem with this! Next time, instead of microwaving the juice after you’ve collected it from the apple/cinnamon/sugar mixture, I’d saute the apples, the juice, and the flour and cornstarch for about 15 minutes or so. That will serve a dual purpose of softening the apples and reducing the juice. Hope that helps!
Yes this was “the Perfect apple pie”, as quoted from my husband. I made a few changes- I didn’t have veg shortening so I used all butter for crust. I cut back a little on sugar and added a little more cinnamon. I also cut back on baking time by a few min. Overall took a long time to make, but well worth it. Thanks!
What size pie. Pan? 8” or 10”?
Actually 9-inch. 🙂
I’m looking to make this tomorrow, but I don’t have veg shortening. Can I sub butter for it? I enjoy all the recipes I’ve made from your site.
Shortening helps the crust hold its shape and makes it a little easier to work with but you can use all butter here. Enjoy!
Hi Jenn, I’m a newbie in the UK and have been enjoying your tips and advice. Made this Apple pie yesterday, just changed the filling a bit as I was short of time. It came out lovely and the pastry is great, I always have trouble with pastry usually. I made it in my KitchenAid with the paddle and it only needed 2 tablespoons of water. It was so good I’ve just made it again to make another pie tomorrow for the freezer. A big thank you as well for the metric measurements.
This was so good! I’ve never made an apple pie before. The whole family loved it. Thanks for another winning recipe Jen!
I used my own recipe for both the crust and the filling because I am very happy with the flavor of both. But I was looking for a way to prevent the soupy mess that I had experienced before. The technique in this recipe solved the problem and even improved the flavor which I didn’t think was possible! I used Fuji, Honeycrisp, and Granny Smith in equal measure, which I am convinced is the way to go. But Even though I used way more than this recipe called for, I still didn’t get the domed effect that I’m looking for. Next time I’ll use three of each variety for a total of nine apples, plus two more Granny Smith grated on a cheese grater.
I used this recipe to make the filling and used a pre-made dough from whole foods. This is the best apple pie filling I’ve ever tasted! The syrup is seriously delicious and takes it to a whole new level! Thank you for the recipe!
Hi did you bake the store bought pie shell first before you put the Apple mixture in it?
Hi Judy, I’ll let Annie weigh in if she sees this, but I would recommend blind baking the crust before you put the filling in it. Enjoy!